Biopic of soul/blues musician has excellent performances (both acting and music wise - Jamie Foxx, Regina King and Kerry Washington are great), Ray Charles was by no means a perfect human being (he seemed like an asshole at times in the film imo, and was a bit of a player too, having affairs with the girls in his backing group), but he made some very good music. While the film shows his battle with heroin addiction, he overcame it in the end. Ultimately its a triumphant story. In the 1960's, he refused to play segregated concerts which was a bold statement at the time.

Silent Running (USA, 1972) [DVD] - 3/5
The world's last surviving greenhouses float through the space (attached to a spaceship) in a thematically interesting, slow paced hippie sci-fi film. The human characters - all 4 of them - can be a bit frustrating at times, but the film gets better towards the end and saves the best for the last.

The Bone Collector (1999-USA-Canada) **½
Quadriplegic Denzel Washington works on a serial killer case with young cop Angelina Jolie as his 'legs'.
Fair thriller, no more. Good supporting cast. Credit to Denzel for being commanding with just the use of his head.

Exposed (Sweden,1971) [DVD] - 2.5/5
Early Christina Lindberg film serves as a passable 70s Sweden zeitgeist, despite a lacklustre storyline and a 5 minute Tarzan movie clip seen during a movie theatre scene being the most exciting part of the film. What the film does have is Christina with her natural assets on display, a wonderfully ridiculous nudist hippie couple, and lots of 70s Sweden. That may not count to terribly much, but it's enough to justify a viewing, and certainly more than that one Nikkatsu Sweden Porno I saw had on offer. Speaking of Japan, this film was released in Japan in early 1972, followed by Maid in Sweden later the same year. Lindberg was later "scouted" by a Toei representative and brought to Japan in 1973 for Sex & Fury and Journey to Japan.

Happy Death Day (2017-USA) **½
A bitchy college student (Jessica Rothe) is doomed to repeat the same day over until she can solve her own murder by a masked assailant.
A PG-13 slasher that heavily borrows from Groundhog Day may not seem ideal, but it's fun, and the lead actress gives a very good performance.

Big Game (2014-Finland-UK-Germany) **½
Incredibly far-fetched action adventure has a 13-year old hunter protecting the US President (Sam Jackson, good) from terrorists in the Finnish wilderness. Moderately entertaining nonsense, fair for a young audience (apart from a gratuitous 'motherfucker' which must've been written into Jackson's contract).

A Hard Day's Night (1964-UK) **
Zeitgeist-capturing mockumentary is a hard day's viewing for all but the most dedicated Beatlemaniac.
Watching it in 2017 it's hard to see what all the fuss was about...
The soundtrack is terrific though.

Don't Blink (2014-USA) **
A group of friends are stranded at a remote lodge where upon they begin to disappear one by one.
Well-made, decently acted, with plenty of tension... but what exactly is the point?
If you'e the sort (as I am) that feels cheated when horror movies don't bother to explain their mystery... this one's best to avoid.

The Right Stuff (USA, 1983) [35mm] - 4.5/5
Terrific epic about the US aviation and space program in the 50s and 60s. Some of the effects are a bit dated, but the film is wonderfully written, directed and acted with loads of edge-of-your-seat moments. 193 minutes flies by.

Kong: Skull Island (USA, 2017) [Flight] - 3/5
Surprisingly decent monster island adventure is suitably violent (even with a Cannibal Holocaust reference) to create a sense of peril - the kind of film they used to make for sons and dads in the pre pg-13 era. There are two other things that help as well: setting the film in the aftermath of the Vietnam War in 1973, and casting people like John C. Reilly, John Goodman and Sam Jackson. Much better entertainment than the Marvel and D.C. boredom theatres are full of these days.

Who? (1974-UK) **½
Quite odd, very low key drama-thriller, in which FBI man Elliot Gould must discover if an American scientist returned by the Soviets is a spy (oh, and due to a car crash he has a metal face).

The Lesson (2015-UK) **
An harassed English teacher snaps and decides to give a couple of anti-social punks a lesson they won't forget.
Literate script punctuated by moments of extreme violence; interesting, but not much fun.

A cross between Memento and Resevoir Dogs, reminded me of some adventure games I've played where characters all wake up in a strange place (warehouse etc) and they don't remember who they are or how they got there. Entertaining/intriguing enough.

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1987-USA) **½
Wes Craven's Whodo Voodoo horror is actually pretty good for the most part, but crumbles toward silly, overblown climax.
I still can't figure out if Bill Pullman is a decent actor or not.

The Foreigner (2017-China-USA-UK) ***
Tough, surprisingly complex and dramatic thriller ranks as Jackie's best film in almost twenty years.
There's still action, but with good plotting and character to go with it.
Pierce Brosnan delivers another strong, nuanced performance (and should've had his name and face on the poster).

First time viewing (surprisingly). The build up is a bit slow at first but as the picture goes on it gets extremely tense, adventurous and exciting, and you're really rooting for Steve McQueen and Co. to escape a tough German POW camp. Great movie.
Edit: Should be noted the first half of the film is largely comedic in tone (imo), which is good too.

The Hitman's Bodyguard (USA, 2017) [Flight] - 3/5
A film so true to its title and casting (Samuel "Motherfucker" L. Jackson bodyguarded by Ryan "Deadpool" Reynolds on a road trip to court while targeted by killers) that any further plot summary is unnecessary. Moderately funny buddy action comedy with some unexpectedly good action and stunt sequences, as well as some unnecessary brutality and CGI bits that didn't need to be in the film at all. Salma Hayek has a great supporting role as a foul mouthed inmate.